Well-known Member

I've had Rokus in the past, and they're the very definition of no frills. The hardware feels cheap and the UI is incredibly bare bones and basic looking, but.. they have all of those apps. No other platform has such a comprehensive selection.

That said, my LG B7 has all the main UK apps (including Now TV, complete with it's utterly miserable picture quality), and a much, much nicer UI and remote. Speaking of remotes, the lack of a mic is a weird omission on the Roku, and those sponsored shortcut buttons are incredibly tacky.

As for the competition, this is most like the Amazon Fire TV. Apple's 4K ATV is only useful for 4K iTunes, and the Shield is more of a gaming proposition.

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Oh, that's a shame. The Samsung(s) I've been using flash a black screen, of course, but no issues like that. Have you tried changing the HDR subsampling setting?

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Yes, I did mess about with that setting too. I could see colour banding in some clips using 4:2:2 so I left it at 4:2:0. In fairness, I'll probably end up changing the TV sometime soon as I think it's letting my setup down

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I was thinking of buying one of these for my friends. They do not have 4K yet. Are the apps on it free, or do you have to pay a subscription to watch them ? Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, e.t.c. What are you actually getting that is different to the other streaming devices ? The bottom line is, is it worth it, if you already have a fire stick, or other device ?

Well-known Member

I was thinking of buying one of these for my friends. They do not have 4K yet. Are the apps on it free, or do you have to pay a subscription to watch them ? Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, e.t.c. What are you actually getting that is different to the other streaming devices ? The bottom line is, is it worth it, if you already have a fire stick, or other device ?

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The UK catch-up TV apps are free to use, but you’ll need a subscription for Netflix/Amazon/Now TV.

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I'm waiting for the new Roku model with the Ethernet connection to surface (can't think what it's called at present). I just don't get the push to wireless only with this new Roku, and the new Amazon Fire TV device. Yes, I get that wireless works for many people, but I prefer to use a cable connection, to negate those times when wireless does not play nicely. That aside, the only issue seems to be the missing UKTV Play app. As for NowTV, I'd be tempted to sign-up if we got at least a 1080i/p picture and multi-channel audio, but whilst it offers such a lowly performance Sky won't be getting my money. I suppose that they don't want to gouge their satellite subscription base, tempting them away from the platform, but the rubbish quality level really is now unacceptable when the competition does it so much better. Sky's loss, but then I don't really think that they care much about their customers anyway, other than as cash cows .....

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I have last years LG B6 and the built-in apps work fine. Is there any real reason to get a streamer like this or is it just another toy? Also, i'm enjoying Dolby Vision on Netflix does this support DV?

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I can see that the Apple has a big selling point in iTunes and the Amazon with hands free Alexa control on the horizon. But I’m really struggling to see anything similarly standout about the Roku despite it being platform agnostic.

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I'm waiting for the new Roku model with the Ethernet connection to surface (can't think what it's called at present). I just don't get the push to wireless only with this new Roku, and the new Amazon Fire TV device. Yes, I get that wireless works for many people, but I prefer to use a cable connection, to negate those times when wireless does not play nicely.

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The Roku 4K box with wired Ethernet is the Ultra. It doesn't look as though that will be available in the UK. It's been on sale in the US for over a year but when Roku UK revamped the range a few weeks ago dropping the excellent Roku 3 they opted for just the minimalist £29.99 Roku Express & the £79.99 4K Roku Streaming Stick. It's a shame as the Roku Ultra that I bought on eBay works great except for BBC iPlayer. There s no technical reason why iPlayer doesn't work & indeed it did work for a few weeks but the BBC don't support it as Roku have never submitted it to the BBC for support.

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The Roku 4K box with wired Ethernet is the Ultra. It doesn't look as though that will be available in the UK. It's been on sale in the US for over a year but when Roku UK revamped the range a few weeks ago dropping the excellent Roku 3 they opted for just the minimalist £29.99 Roku Express & the £79.99 4K Roku Streaming Stick. It's a shame as the Roku Ultra that I bought on eBay works great except for BBC iPlayer. There s no technical reason why iPlayer doesn't work & indeed it did work for a few weeks but the BBC don't support it as Roku have never submitted it to the BBC for support.

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Well, that's Roku off the list then. I don't get why here in the UK we don't get the full product range, but a lack of Ethernet connectivity is a deal-breaker for me, pity.

Active Member

I have an ATV4k and it does have the rate hdr match on it although it gets its as good as gold software.
For one I wouldn’t mind an all in one provider. Currently I have a number of other machines that can access other services. Mainly Amazon but that’s coming and I don’t care for YouTube 4k.
Mainly ATV 4k is home to nearly 400 films so I can’t go anywhere else now anyway. I don’t want a 3rd library. I use 4k Blu-ray for the films where I want the very best (Guardians 2 for example) otherwise ATV does perfectly for me.
Not so much a fan boy, I got the first iPhone (when no one else had one) and just stuck with it. I had the phone when ppl were waiving the latest Sony phone with a free copy of Spider-Man 3 under my nose. BlackBerry et all. The content slowly built up over the years.

Well-known Member

If they are part of Amazon Prime ecosystem a Fire Stick might be better for them. Even if they're not, a streaming stick can provide extra value with amount of free apps there are out there.

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Thanks, but i'm pretty certain they're not Amazon prime customers. ( They have got a modfied box, or stick, or both, of some sort ! )
I was just trying to think of a Christmas gift to buy, the one friend is so difficult to buy for !

Active Member

The horrendous HDMI handshake issues I've been having seem to have calmed a little by turning off refresh rate switching and using 4:2:0 HDR subsampling.
Seems like it's a well known, well reported issue so hopefully Roku will release an update soon.